And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband

I wonder why John would need to mention his own name here? In many previous cases whenever he saw something, he would always say "And I saw", but here, toward the end of the book, he seems to want to make sure that the reader still remembers his name. Why? Was it a kind of literary device in ancient Greek for an author to re-state his name when he wants to signal that what is going to be reported now is more important and more magnificent than whatever has been narrated so far (John is about to describe the New Jerusalem at this point, which is, perhaps, the most beautiful vision in the whole book, plus, this is something that, unlike previous things seen by John, will continue in the eternity)? Do we have any evidence of this literary technique in any other non-biblical Greek writings of that time?

2 Answers
2

It may have been added for reading in public (perhaps first as a marginal note) in order for the audience not to confuse the lecturer with the author (and to save the public reader from the appearance of being selfassuming).

Or perhaps it depends on where and how one places and parses ειδον? Han (Parsing Guide to the GNT) parses ειδον as 1 pers. sing. 2 aor. act. ind, but others parse it either similarly to Han or in the 3 pers. pl.

Note: On of my sources shows εγω ιωαννης in Tischendorf 8th, but another says Tischendorf 8th, like W & H, omits any reference to either the Apostle John or the writer of the Gospel attributed to him. And other sources say BMT/GMT omits similar reference, but BMT/GMT 1904 includes it. Go figure!